Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO!
Here are the rules:
We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type.
And no more than two sentences as to why.
Just One.
And our theme this month?
The doomy-est scrolly-est days of hellscape in the US are next week, and I’m sending all of you virtual comfort and strength and compassion. This time, we’re building an essential list: your one (1) In Case Of Emergency Break Glass and Read This Romance recommendation.
We’ve talked about books like these before, but it seems extremely necessary right now.
We’re looking for your MOST POWERFUL Emergency Comfort Reads, the romances that never fail to help you out, books that are So Good they are your First Aid kit romances.
What “In Case Of Emergency, Read This” Romance would you recommend?
Any genre, but just one rec!
Ready, set, GO!
Sarah: I carry a few books on my Kindle at all times for this category alone. I have had a few book emergencies this year.
For this one, I’m going for The Unleashing, Shelly Laurenston, Crows 1. I know, I know: I talk about this trilogy a LOT.
But anger, rage, revenge, women being reborn into powerful, vicious second lives with freedom and access to power…Yes, please. I can escape into that world any time.
Lara: Tessa Dare’s A Week to be Wicked. It has never failed me in an emergency, ever.
Sarah: SUCH a good choice. Dare’s books are very much in the “In Case of Emergency Break Glass And Read This” category.
Elyse: I have to go with Alyssa Cole’s A Prince on Paper, which has the sweetest hero ever
But I also reread a lot of Edith Layton when I’m feeling down. To Wed a Stranger is one of my favs.
Claudia: It’s re-read time around here as well. I went back to some of my favorite Meredith Duran books. I second Lara’s choice (it never fails to make me laugh out loud) and on the same vein I’m going to go with a Mary Balogh book from way back: The Famous Heroine.
It’s probably her funniest book and a friends-to-lovers and fish-out-of-water mix. It’s a child of the 90s, though.
And speaking of her old books: I recently found out that she has a Halloween-themed novella compilation, No Ordinary Love, available through Hoopla for me.
Tara: Depending on what’s going on for me, I need something that’s either incredibly fluffy or highly immersive. So when I want something fluffy, I reach for Chelsea M. Cameron. I’m actually rereading her book Didn’t Stay in Vegas right now for that reason.
And if I’m looking for something immersive, I go back to the greatest Devil Wears Prada fanfic of all time, Truth and Measure by Telanu. It’s 270k+ words, the character work is spot on, the chemistry is amazing, and I just love it so much.
Shana: I have to agree with the above fanfic recommendation. I read it based on Tara’s suggestion during a previous Tough Time and it worked.
Shana: I’m struggling with narrowing this down to one book.
I know I often suggest Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon for pretty much everything, but I strongly believe there’s nothing that lesbian vampire sorority girls won’t solve.
Shana: However, Talia Hibbert is my first stop for cozy comfort, because her heroes are really into caretaking. Get a Life, Chloe Brown is basically a Snuggie in book form.
Catherine: Hmm. Not a romance, but the Penric and Desdemona novellas really work for me – they have so much kindness and humour in them, and they are short enough for a stressed out attention span.
For romances, I am very predictable! Lucy Parker is an author who can hold my attention nineteen hours into an international flight, so she is a solid winner here. And Laura Florand writes the holiday in France that you can still have when France is…20-something hours away on that same international flight.
Sarah: Gotta narrow it down to one!
In a pinch I will accept two, because this is hard, but no more than that.
Catherine: Penric it is!
Sarah: And there’s a new one??!! Yay! That was almost my choice!
Catherine: There is, and I am just about to willfully join the Bad Decisions Book Club in order to read it tonight. Which is after midnight already.
Catherine, two hours later: Reporting in from the Bad Decisions Book Club to strongly recommend Masquerade in Lodi. A total delight.
Ellen: I am not much of a re-reader anymore (it gives me too much anxiety about all the books I haven’t read yet!) but I’ll answer this from the perspective of books that really brought me incredible comfort and joy during difficult times.
So for that I will pick The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip ( A | BN | K | AB ).
It’s a fantasy primarily but it has a strong romantic subplot and it’s just really beautiful and moving. I remember finishing it in a coffee shop in college ugly-crying.
Actually, this is making me want to re-read it.
Amanda: For comfort reading, I imagine just putting on an audiobook and lying in bed with everything in reach. This idea is brought to you by my period and heating pad.
My overall choice is the Maiden Lane series (so many hours to nest in bed!) because the narrator is just SO GOOD. I do have a soft spot for Scandalous Desires because of Charming Mickey.
Sneezy: My pick would be A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane.
A giant fluffy cat will love you, ask and give cuddles, chomp your enemies to bits, go on world saving adventures with you – need I go on? Even though there’s suicidal ideation in this book, I feel like it’s handled well and the overall book is imbued with so much hope.
And I need hope, rather desperately.
Ok, what about you?
What one romance do you recommend for Emergency Reading Situations?
What’s your go-to Comfort Read/First Ad romance?
Ready, set, go!
Tessa Dare- The Duchess Deal.
My ultimate comfort read this year has been The Immortals and The Circle Of Magic series by Tamora Pierce because found family! friendship! Good leaders! (Look I love Jon and Thayet and I love Jon/Thayet) Trauma not magically cured! Absolutely my warm hug books, though they absolutely do deal with hard stuff.
And then a lot of fanfic. And Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
Ilona Andrews is my comfort read as well as my book slump read, which makes them my double-comfort read I guess! There are many books (series) to choose from, but what’s calling to me right now is BURN FOR ME, the first book in the Hidden Legacy series. Overcoming adversity, staying true to one’s principles, and having a close, supportive family are all elements that resonate in this series. And is an ideal in these current times.
My comfort reads vary throughout the years as new books come out and become new faves that I I’ll reread over & over again. However, the ones that have stayed very consistent no matter what is Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn my #1 ❤ & the second book is Act Like It by Lucy Parker.
I have to reach for an oldie. So Georgette Heyer. Which one though? So many lovely reads to choose from but it has to be Cotillion of course, for lovely Freddy.
His Majesty the Prince of Toads, by Delle Jacobs. Silly title, but still jerks those tears for me.
I also go for Georgette Heyer, but it would be Frederica, or The Toll Booth.
@LN Cotillion is a major comfort reread for me, and in the same vein as that I’m going to recommend The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig, the hero, Turnip, gives off major Freddie vibes.
The audiobook of WELL MET by Jen DeLucca. I called it my binkie at the beginning of the pandemic. Two heroes for the price of one. Flirty pirate and an ordinary guy next door.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this rec theme!
Not much of a re-reader, but I do go back to the paper version of Patricia Brigg’s “The Hob’s Bargain” about once a year. While it starts with a horrible disaster, the [quietly badass] H just keeps doing what she knows is right, and it ends with hope, despite enormous and horrible changes in the world.
I always turn to Courtney Milan — mostly because her heroines are so strong. Pretty much anything in THE BROTHERS SINISTER is likely to make me happy, but my favorites are GOVERNESS GAME, HEIRESS EFFECT, COUNTESS CONSPIRACY, and SUFFRAGETTE SCANDAL.
And if for some reason Courtney Milan isn’t what I need, Tessa Dare — any of the CASTLES EVER AFTER, but WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT is the one most likely to make me the happiest.
I recently had to move (it went badly, as if the standard stress wasn’t enough) and found myself doing a re-read of a bunch of old Dick Francis mysteries. Not romances, but there’s usually an element of the main male character meeting a woman. And horses. Bad guys get their comeuppance and it ends well.
I have a feeling Courtney Milan’s newest, The Duke Who Didn’t is heading to the top of my list. My absolute favorite comfort read is The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (I just started reading it again last night)
Sitting on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain with no electricity—courtesy of Hurricane Zeta—but thank God my family is safe, the house isn’t damaged, and the temperature & humidity have dropped. To say I’m ready for a comfort read is an understatement. However, the Bitchery knows that, when it comes to romance reading, DDD is an angst queen, so even with the promise of using flashlights for the next few days, I’m going angsty in my recommendation: Kati Wilde’s GOING NOWHERE FAST, a New Adult romance (with best friend’s sibling, road trip, antagonists-to-lovers, even P&P retelling elements) that works for old adults like me. Also—an absolutely gutting break-up scene and an equally lovely reconciliation scene. Happy reading—I’m off to look for more batteries…
Bite Me, Shelly Laurenston- there’s just too much happening in that book for anything else to get in. Plus honey badgers.
Oh, A Week to Be Wicked for sure. Actually, when I went through the aftermath of the apartment fire last year, that was the first book I went to reread.
And thanks to 2020 I’ve found fanfic again, and now I have a huge list to keep going back to when I need to turn off the rest of the world.
@DDD- stay safe and so glad to hear your family and home are okay! Louisiana has truly taken a beating this year and as a Floridian my heart goes out to you and the rest of the gulf coast.
I’ve been heartsick to see how the mess our administration has made has taken such priority in the news over the storm season this year. It’s been brutal and know that there are those of us praying and sending aid for relief for you all.
I’m going to be re-binging (is that a word yet?) on my Heyers and Lucy Parkers for the next week.
Depends on what I’m in the mood for/how shitty the world is.
modern romance: Nora Roberts or Nalini Singh
fantasy: Tamora Pierce
fantasy with ‘adult scenes’: Sarah J Maas
urban fantasy: Patricia Briggs or Ilona Andrews or Nalini Singh
historical romance: Johanna Lindsey or Julie Garwood.
Fanfic for sure – I have read and re-read so much recently. But for comfort romance re-reads, I tend to go with Connie Willis, Elizabeth Peters, Nora Roberts or Amanda Quick. Books I practically know by heart, but still bring comfort.
Hands down. Mariana zapata
The book I always turn to in extremity is “The Perfect Rake” by Anne Gracie. Even though I’ve read it so many times over, it never fails to make me laugh out loud. The dialog is just so terrific, and the characters are such fun. It never fails to cheer me up, even knowing it beat for beat. Lots of fabulous books on this list too! Nothing like having backup in these trying times!
For me, listening to the audiobook of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is always a mood boost. I think Fangirl and Landline also work like this for me. I would also recommend anyone who enjoyed Fangirl to read the recent graphic novel adaption of the first quarter of the book by Sam Maggs and Gabi Nam. It’s very cute and true to what the novel is like.
I also reread a lot of the shojo manga I enjoyed as a teenager when I need a comfort boost. A lot of them I would not recommend to other people necessarily, but they work for me. I would like to make a special shoutout to Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. It’s weird to discuss it as a comfort read because it’s very much about the trauma of grief and abuse, but it handles its subject matter better than most manga/most media in general. It also has one of the best romances in shojo manga.
Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart.
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. It has great secondary characters, too. I have actually never tried chicken marsala but I want to try it because of this book. I feel like it could be an awesome comfort food.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell is also a great comfort read. It needs to be made into a Christmas movie already. Netflix, hello??
I love this rec league topic! I’m going to add everyone’s books I haven’t read yet to my list.
My rec is the Star Wars fanfiction Meeting Like This.
https://archiveofourown.org/series/31597
It is a Boba Fett/Princess Leia fanfiction and it is one of the most amazing fanfiction series I’ve ever read. I read the entire thing back in March when we first went into restrictions to stay at home and it just made me so happy. The characterization is spot on and the whole series just works so well.
Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie is my all-time comfort read. Followed by Before Girl by Kate Canterbary.
Like #4 Denise I always reach for the Bridgertons, although I lean toward AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN or WHEN HE WAS WICKED.
For the comfort romance read, I’ll pick Lyn Gala’s Claimings series. It’s a male/alien male romance with a caretaker dom and linguistics; what more does one need besides chocolate?
If the choice were sci-fi with the barest hint of romance then Linesman by SK Dunstall. If the choice were fantasy, then Written in Red by Anne Bishop.
That would be The beast in him, by Shelly Laureston. A sort of second-chance romance between shapeshifters (he is a wolf, she’s a wild dog). Laugh out loud funny, most of the characters are slightly unhinged, what you get is a delightful romp throughout.
Ooh good topic, I am in Ontario and can only cross my fingers for all the Americans who are anxiously awaiting a change of govt next week. My top two rereads for comfort would have to be Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl and The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston. Although if I start any of the books by Shelly L, I know I will be reading all of them again!!
A Week to be Wicked is definitely my go-to in times of crisis.
My all time go-to book is The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypass
Oddly – or perhaps not, given the election is so close – I’ve been rereading my favorites for the past few weeks. The only way to choose between them is to just use the book I’m in the middle of right now, which is Emma Hart’s “Four Day Fling”. Florida Keys, fake relationship, destination wedding. Hijinks ensue.
Tessa Dare is a go-to for me as well. I will second When a Scot Ties the Knot. So lovely and funny and just quintessential Dare.
If I want to get lost for a while, I will plonk down with Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
And all of the Shelly Laurenston reqs are my jam as well. Nothing likely a crazy, badass, get-out-of-my-way woman to lift me up. Crows, honey badgers, the lot.
Series – Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews
Book – The Kraken King by Meljean Brook
Novella – Miss Congeniality by Shelly Laurenston
Another Lois McMaster Bujold – A Civil Campaign.
Because the pain and uncertainty of failing as well as the triumph and glory of love — even in space opera. (Also the follow-up short story about the wedding – Winterfaire Gifts which is sometimes in the same omnibus)
It makes a deeper impression when you have read the earlier seventeen books but nothing makes a scene like a widowed woman standing in the spectator galley in front of the emperor, other lords, her future in-laws, her brother and brother-in-law (who wants custody of her son)… saying to the man accused of her husband’s murder:
Ekaterin leaned forward, gripping the railing with her knuckles going pale. “Let’s finish this. Lord Vorkosigan!”
Miles jerked in his seat, taken by surprise. “Madame?” He made a little half-bow gesture. “Yours to command . . .”
“Good. Will you marry me?”
A kind of roaring, like the sea, filled Miles’s head; for a moment, there were only two people in this chamber, not two hundred. If this was a ploy to impress his colleagues with his innocence, would it work? Who cares? Seize the moment! Seize the woman! Don’t let her get away again! One side of his lip curled up, then the other; then a broad grin took over his face. He tilted toward her. “Why, yes, madame. Certainly. Now?”
@DiscoDollyDeb: I’m sorry you got hit by the hurricane, but I’m so glad you and your family are alright.
I’m reading thru the recs and loving them, even the ones I haven’t read (which are going on my list – one thing I can count on in this crazy world is that my fellow SB’ers are truly Smart Bitches with great taste in books!).
My pick is the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Went back and relistened to the recent podcast with her – so good! I think we can all use a bit of Murderbot’s not-caring/caring in this crazy world. Deep breath as we go into the final week(ish, depending).
Kylie Scott, Dirty.
I actually like the Stage Dive books better than the Dive Bar books generally, but in case of emergency, it’s a helpful reminder that no matter how insurmountable your problems seem, there’s probably a fence you can climb over. And maybe a hot neighbour on the other side?